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5 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 5 

I UNITED STATES OP AMERICA, f 






ON 



2ReBgt0n m\ Cemprantt 



BY 



ARBA LANKTON 



"I'll preach as though I ne'er should preach again. 
And as a dying man, to dying men." 



HARTFORD, CT. 
PUBLISHED BY ARBA LANKTON. 

1872. 









Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872 by 

ARBA LANKTON, 
in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 



^TAND ^AST. 



Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you Wee men, be 
strong. — 1 Cor. 16 : 13. 

The terms in this verse are all military. " Watch ye V* 
watch and be always on yonr guard, lest yon be surprised 
by your enemies. Keep your scouts out, and all your 
sentinels at their posts, lest your enemies steal a march 
upon you. See that the place you are in be properly de- 
fended, and that each be alert to perform his duty. 

1st, Watch ye, that your mind be always stayed on 
God. The devil and his instruments may do strange 
things to support the credit of his falling cause, and lying 
wonders may be wrought, that may stagger the incau- 
tious ; but whatever would draw us from Christ must be- 
rejected with abhorrence. 

We are too apt to look upon outward grandeur with the 
eye of sense, and to be influenced by the pomp and glory 
of the world, and forgetting the requirement of God, laid 
down in his holy word, telling us to " watch and pray 
lest we enter into temptation," we lean to our own un- 
derstanding instead of trusting in God, and the result is 
that our courage and strength fail us in the hour of trial, 
as they did Elijah the prophet, at oue time, when the 
wicked queen of Israel threatened to take away his life.. 
Instead of magnifying his office, he in effect rejected it- 
Like Jonah, he fled from the presence of the Lord, and 
lay concealed in Horeb, when he ought to have con- 
fronted the idolatrous Jezebel, and endeavored to confirm 
the convictions which the lat6 miracle had made on the 
minds of the people. He betrayed an unworthy fear of 



6 STAND FAST. 

man, or rather of a foolish woman, and seems to have 
lost his confidence in God. 

With undaunted courage he had lately reproved King 
Ahab, and confounded all the priests of Baal ; yet now 
he is frightened by a passionate queen, and runs away to 
Horeb. Let us be profited by Elijah's experience, and 
watch, that our minds be always stayed on God ; trust- 
ing in his written promise, which says, "Wait on the 
Lord; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine 
heart." Ps. 27 : 14. 

2nd. Watch ye ; against evil, internal and external. 
A person once came to Christ, and offered himself to 
become one of his disciples, and only begged that he 
might first bid adieu to his friends, and settle his worldly 
affairs. But Christ seeing that his heart was entangled 
with worldly things, let him know the impossibility of 
uniting the services of God and mammon. "No man 
having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is 
fit for the kingdom of God." While he hankers after 
the world, and parts from it with reluctance, he will not 
heartily discharge the duties of a faithful Christian. 
Worldly pursuits may prove a dangerous snare to draw 
off the heart from Christ ; even those that we may law- 
fully mind, are apt to engage unlawful, and inordinate 
affections after them, When once we have set our faces 
heavenward, let us never look back, but "remember Lot's 
wife." Coke's Com., 3d vol., 546 p. 

The Scriptures teach us to " keep our hearts with all 
diligence, for out of the heart are the issues of life." 
Our Saviour taught his disciples that " Out of the heart 
proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, 
thefts, false witness, and blasphemies ;" these, said Christ, 
" a^e they which defile a man." Matt. 15: 19, 20. 

We should come to the great physician, even Christ, by 



STAND FAST. 7 

faith and prayer, and have our hearts healed of the 
plague of sin ; then watch against sin, and never harbor 
sinful thoughts, or wicked desiresiu our hearts, not even 
for a moment, no more than we would hold our hand in 
the fire, and not expect to be burned ; for if sinful 
thoughts and wicked desires are permitted to dwell in 
the heart, they will most surely burst forth in wicked 
w r ords and wicked actions. 

How important that we take heed to the directions 
given us by Paul, to. "be sober and vigilant, for our ad- 
versary — the devil — goeth about as a roaring lion, seek- 
ing whom he may devour." 

3rd. Watch ye. to- receive good. We are commanded 
to "grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord 
and Saviour, Jesus Christ," and we may do this, by 
diligently improving the various means of grace which 
God has instituted. Among these are the private duties 
of the closet, prayer, reading God's holy word, and med- 
itation. We may receive good by attending the public 
ordinances of God's house, the x>reaching of his word, the 
prayer meetings and the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. 
And as we have opportunity it is our duty to watch and 
improve these privileges, so that they shall not arise up 
against us at the day of judgment. 

My brethren, when in secret you pray, watch ye, and 
pray to your Father who seeth in secret, expecting that, 
according to his promise, he "will reward you openly.'' 
And be watchful, if in the house of God, that you do not 
content yourselves with the means, without the end, lest 
the fowls should come down, and devour the sacrifice 
which was prepared for God, and the enemy take away 
the seed which was sown in the heart. 

4th. Watch ye to do good. The Bible tells us, "He 
that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is 



8 STAND FAST. 

sin." Also, "Let your light so shine before men," that 
they may see your good works, aud g'orify your Father 
which is in heaven." We may do much good to others, 
by always being steadfast in well-doing ourselves. Man- 
kind are naurally very imitative; and thousands have 
been influenced to try to live the lives of the righteous, 
by the good example of others. There is a good done of 
which we can never tell the when or where. " Remem- 
ber the power of indirect influences, those which distil 
from a life, not from a sudden brilliant effort. The for- 
mer never fail, the latter often." 

It is said of Kev. Dr. Wilbur Fisk, that "it was hi* 
rare moral character, more than his intellectual emi- 
nence, that gave him such magic influence over other 
minds. All about him felt a sort of self-respect in re- 
specting him." 

We may do much good by visiting the sick, and reliev- 
ing their wants, so far as we are able. We may go to 
the bedside of some poor sinner, who has lived in rebel- 
lion against God, and now he feels that he is going to 
die, aud is about to meet his offended Maker face to lace. 
He cannot escape, and as he thinks of his past wicked 
life and remembers that the Bible has said, " The wicked 
shall be turned into hell, with all nations that forget 
God " he fears the consequence of his sins, and cries out 
like 'the PhtHppian jailor of old, "Sirs, what must I do 
to be saved 1" The visitor can then tell the sick man, to 
•< Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be 
saved;" and then instruct him, and pray for him and 
God in answer to prayer, will save the sinner, if he heart- 
ily repents of his sins, and seeks for pardon through the 

merits of Christ. " 

We may visit the Christian who is sick, and tell him 
that these light afflictions, thomrh for the present they 



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10 STAND FAST. 

may seem grievous, yet if he is only faithful until death, 
"they shall work out for him a far more exceeding and 
eternal weight of glory'." and the sick pilgrim may take 
fresh courage, and pass triumphantly over the river 
Jordan into the haven of rest. 

5th. We should watch over each other. By observing 
others, we may see wherein they err, and kindly tell 
them, when we are alone with them, and so help them to 
do "better. They may see faults in us, and tell us of them, 
and "a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures 
of silver." " How good it is to know that ever amid the 
world's cold selfishness, there are warm and loving hearts 
"beating for us, a spirit of kindness brooding o'er us; the 
thought, bright and beautiful, flitting at times like some 
gay dream across our pathway, gives us fresh courage, 
and a stronger purpose to the soul in the fierce conflict 
of life's great battle. 

Stand fast in the faith. First. In the true theory 
thereof. Second. In the practice of the true theory 
of faith. 

1. In the true theoiy of the faith. There are many 
theories, and we should find the right one and stand fast 
in that. The Mormons believe in Christ, but they license 
polygamy and other things contrary to the gospel theory 
of faith in Christ, by which salvation to the soul is 
secured. The Roman Catholics believe in Christ, but 
allow things contrary to the gospel theory, and hence Ro- 
manism is not the true theory. 

But the true theory of the faith is, to believe in Christ 
both as a vicarious and also as a propitiatory sacrifice- 
The t,word vicarious meaus, "substituted in the place 
of another." Christ offered himself and died on the cross 
for our sins ; that whosoever believeth on him might not 
perish but have everlasting life. Thereby he became a- 




Pi. ay For Him. Page 8; 



12 STAND FAST. 

vicarious sacrifice for sinful man. Christ was also a 
propitiatory sacrifice, that is, accepted of God for man, 
and God was reconciled to save men if they would be- 
lieve on him whom he had sent. And that God accepted 
of Christ, is shown in Matt. 3 : 17, " And lo ! a voice 
from heaven saying, This is my beloved son, in whom I 
am well pleased." 

We must standfast in this faith, holding fast what we 
have already received as the truth of God; for it is the 
gospel by which ye shall be saved, and by which ye are 
now put in a state of salvation. 

2. We should stand fast in the practice of the true 
faith. No matter how many errors may be cherished in 
the hearts of those around us ; we, like good soldiers of 
the Lord Jesus Christ, should manfully •' fight the good 
fight of faith," being "steadfast, immovable, ■ always 
abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know 
that y©ur labor is not in vain in the Lord." 

"Quit you like men." 

1. Do not act as mere animals, who have nothing to 
live for but sensual pleasures, Man has faculties and 
powers which raise him in the sca'e of creation far above 
every other living thing with which we are acquainted. 
Man has reason, the noblest of all his attributes, and 
which has been denied to the brute creation. Animals 
are guided in snpplying their wants by instinct; but 
man not only has instinct, but reasoning powers, by 
which he is able to think, study, and understand right 
from wrong, to learn who made him, and for what pur- 
pose he was made, and man with his superior knowledge 
is permitted to have dominion over the brute creation. 

2. Do not live as mere children, tossed to and fro by 
every wind of doctrine, but Jet your understanding 
receive the truth ; let your judgment determine on the 



STAND FA8T. 



13 



absolute necessity of retaining it, and give up life, rather 
than give up the testimony of God. 

3. " Stand fast, quit you like men/' capable through 
the grace of God assisting you, of performing what you 
undertake to do ; and when you are attacked by the 
enemy of truth, and he tries to get you to give up your 
faith in Christ, do not shrink or yield for one moment, 
remembering the Scotch general's speech to his army on 
one occasion, just before they w T erc to attack an enemy, 
"Scotchmen," said he, "there are your enemies out there, 
you must conquer them, or they will conquer you." And 
it is just so with us, we must, w T ith God's help, overcome 
our human and spiritual foes, or they will conquer us. 

Finally, brethren, " be strong." Put forth all the 
vigor and energy which God has given you, in maintain- 
ing and propagating the truth, and your spiritual 
strength will increase. Go L will help you if you are 
willing to help yourselves. Remember, "your cause is 
good ; it is the faith, the religion of Jesus. lie is your 




14 FIEMNESS. 

captain in tlio field ; and should you even die in the 
contest, the victory is yours." 

" So when this corruptible shall have~put'on incorrup- 
tion, and this mortal shaJl have put on immortality, then 
shall he brought to pass the saying that is written, Death 
is swallowed up in victory." 

"O death, where is thy sting? O grave where is thy 
victory V' 

"The sting of death is sin ; and the strength of sin 
is the law." 

"But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory 
through our Lord Jesus Christ." 

"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast,, 
unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,, 
forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain 
in the Lord." 1 Cor. 15 : 54-58. 



FIEMNESS. 

"Be firm. The wind and the waves may beat against 
a rock standing in a troubled sea ; but it remains unmoved. 
Be you like that rock. Vice may entice, and the song and 
the cup may invite. Beware ! stand firmly at your post. 
Let your principles shine forth unobscured. 

There is glory in the thought that you have resisted 
temptation, and conquered. Your bright example will be 
to the world what the lighthouse is to the mariner ; it will 
guide others to the port of virtue and safety." 




'--■ 



.."_ .^-:aiPI- 



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What the Lighthouse is to the Mariner. Page 14- 



A Prize J^ightei^ Jurned J^reacher^ 



The preacher, Richard Weaver, is thus described in an 
English newspaper : 

" A new preacher, by name Richard Weaver, formerly a 
prize-fighter and a collier in the North, has appeared in 
London, and is producing very deep and wide-spread im- 
pressions by open-air addresses, on large masses of the 
population. He was announced first of all by a handbill, 
to preach and 'sing' at the Cumberland Market. And 
' sing ' as well as • preach,' he can do to the melting down 
of hundreds. 

One night, addressing a number of poor men and women 
on the words, ' They shall return to Zion with songs,' he 
said : ' I wa3 always fond of singing ; I believe I was bom 
to sing ; but the songs I used to sing are not the songs I 
love now.' 

* O my dear men, you sing, ' Britons never, never shall 
be slaves ; ' but what slaves you are to your own lusts, to 
the devil, to the landlord !' 

' 1 used to sing, • We won't go home till morning ;' the 
landlord loves to hear that. I've sung that five nights to- 
gether, and spent seventy dollars on one spree, and got 
turned out at the # end. But I've learned better songs ; I'll 
tell you some of the songs I love now. Here's one 

1 O happy day that fixed my choice 
On thee, my Saviour and my God.' 

And here's another : 

' There is a fountain filled with blood, 
Drawn from Immanuel's veins.' 



PRIZE FIGHTER TURNED PREACHER. 17 

The speaker quoted with wonderful rapidity, but without 
the semblance of irreverence, at least a dozen hymns, or 
portions of hymns, some of which he sung, the meeting 
taking up the chorus. Then he related the following anec- 
dote, with a pathos and tenderness of voice and manner 
which told how affectionate a heart and how delicate a mind 
may be developed, by the grace of God, in a man employed 
in the hardest work, and once addicted to the grossest vice. 

* I knew a collier in Staffordshire who had one dear Utile 
girl, the last of four or five. This child was the light of 
his eyes, and as he came from the pit at night she used to 
meet him at the door of his cot to welcome him home. 
One day when he came in to dinner he missed his little dar- 
ling, and going into the house with his heavy coal-pit clogs, 
his wife called him up stairs. The stillness of the place 
and her quiet voice made his heart sick, and a foreboding 
of evil came upon him. His wife told him they were going 
to lose their little lamb ; she had had an apoplectic fit r 
and the doctor said she could not live. As the tears made 
furrows down his black face, and as he leaned over his 
dying darling, she said, ' Daddy, sing 

1 Here is no rest — is no rest !' ' 

* No, my child, I can't sing, I'm choking : I can't sing.' 
'O do, daddy, sing ' Here's no rest.'* The poor fellow 
tried to sing, (preacher sings,) 

i Here on the earth as a stranger I roam, 
Here is no rest — is no rest !' • 

But his voice could not make way against his trouble. 
Then he tried again, for he wanted to please his Bweet lit- 
tle girl, (preacher sings,) 

' Here are afflictions and trials severe, 

Here is no rest — is no rest ! 
Here I must part with the friends I hold dear, 
Yet I am blest — I am blest !' 



18 PRIZE FIGHTER TURNED PREACH BR. 

Again his voice was choked with weeping, but the 
little one whispered, 'Come, daddy, sing 'Sweet is thy 
promise.' ' And the poor father goes on again, 

'Sweet is thy promise I read in thy word, 
Blessed are they who have died in the Lord. 
They have been called to receive their reward, 
There, there is rest — there is rest !' 

' That's it, daddy,' cried the child, 'that's it ;' and with her 
arms round the collier's neck she died happy in the Lord.' 

We cannot describe the thrilling effect of Mr. Weaver's 
singing in the midst of preaching, it is so natural, so free 
from every thing like premeditation or aiming at effect. 

It is said that from forty to fifty persons were hopefully 
converted by one appeal. One of these cases was that of 
a careless young sailor, brought to the meeting by his 
mother, and on this Weaver founded the appeal , ' O 
mothers, go on praying forever ; never mind what they are 
or where they are ; if any prayers reach heaven, a mother s 
do. Eight years ago the news sounded from heaven to the 
poor old woman in Shropshire, ' Richard Weaver is born 
again!"' 



BE GENTLE TO TOUE WIFE. 19 

THE BIBLE. 

.'•This little book I'd rather own, 

Than all the gold and gems 
That are in Monarchs' coffers shown, 

Than all their diadems. 
Nay! were the seas one crysolite, 

The earth a golden ball, 
And diamonds all the stars of night, 

This book, were worth them all." 



BE GENTLE TO YOUR WIFE 

Be gentle, for you do not know 

How many trials rise ; 
Although to thee they may be small, 

To her of giant size. 

Be gentle, though perchance that lip 
May speak a munnuring tone ; 

The heart may beat with kindness yet, 
And joy to be thine own. 




Invitation. 



NVITATION. 



"Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man 
his thoughts ; and lei him return unto the Lord, and He 
will have mercy upon him ; and to our God. for He will 
abundantly pardon.'" Isaiah 55: 7. 

I. Let us consider who are the wicked and unrighteous. 
They are those persons who wander away from God, and 
commit sin by breaking his law. The command of God is, 
that we have no other gods before Him ; that we love Him 
with all our hearts, and serve Him with all our might ; and 
it seems to me that those persons who love any object, 
whether it bo our friends, our own ease, worldly honor, 
riches or any thing, better than to love and obey God, 
their righteous Sovereign are both sinful and wicked. Again, 
we are commanded "not to take the name of God in 
vain ;" and every profane person must be wicked. We 
are commanded to "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it 
holy." Sabbath breakers are wicked. The commandment 
tells us, "six days shalt thou labor;" and some one has 
said, that "It is just as bad not to labor the six days, as it 
is to labor on the Sabbath." We ara taught by the Apos- 
tle, " Be not slothful in business," but diligent, "fervent 
in spirit, serving the Lord." And the slothful in business 
are wicked. Children are commanded to "obey their 
parents in the Lord," for this is right, and those children 
who refuse to comply with the command are sinful and 
wicked, for the apostle has said, that sin is the transgres- 
sion of the Law, and I might say, that murderers, adulter- 
ers, thieves and liars, all who break either one or all the 



22 INVITATION. 

laws of God, are in his sight, both sinful and wicked. Sin 
is the same in essence, in the boy who steals the first cent 
from his employer's drawer, as it is in the man who plunges 
the dagger in his neighbor's heart ; both might lie and deny 
their crime ; these three sins in their essence arc the same. 

Illustrations showing who are the wicked. 

Our first parents, Adam and Eve, were created in the 
image of God ; and in the last verse of the first chapter of 
Genesis, we are told, that "God saw everything that 
he had made, and behold it was very good." Mankind 
with the rest are pronounced " very good." 

" And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, " Of 
every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat : out of the 
tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat 
°f # » for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt 
surely die." But man broke the law by eating of the 
forbidden fruit, and in breaking the law, he sinned against 
God, and man became "dead in trespasses and sins," 
and "so death hath passed upon all men, for that all have 
Binned." 

Death of the body is a separation of the soul from 
the body, and man separated himself morally speaking, 
from God, when he broke his law.. 

And oh, what an awful separation ! "It is a separation 
including on the one hand, the loss of God's favor and de- 
light towards man, and on the other of the loss on their 
part, of their love and delight towards Him." "It is 
a separation too, including the loss on their part, of all 
moral likeness to God, so that they are both guilty and de- 
praved in his sight." 

But notwithstanding man has thus wandered, and sepa- 
rated himself from God, by sin, yet this part of the proph- 
ecy of Isaiah is full of. encouragement to sinners, both 
Jews and Gentiles to return to God, and be saved." 



INVITATION. 23 

II. Consider the exhortation found in the text. "Let 
the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his 
thoughts, and let him return to the Lord." This exhorta- 
tion is a general one, and intended for all nations, both 
Jews and Gentiles, implying that both had sinned, and 
lost the favor of God, and were gone astray from him. 
But God here mvites the wicked to forsake his way, 
and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and to return 
to God, promising that "he will have mercy and abund- 
antly pardon." 

But hoic are ice to return to God ? 

"Formerly, He was sought in the way of sacrifices, 
and this was the way that David and others found Him. 
;Bat all this was only typical of that "new and living way 
by which we draw near to God," Christ is the way ; 
the only way, "for there is none other name under heaven 
given among men whereby we must be saved." "In 
all our seeking unto God, therefore, we must come by faith 
in the Mediator." 

"Jesus, the name to sinners dear, 

The name to sinners given, 
It scatters all their guilty fear, 
It turns their hell to heaven." 

"Then let the wicked forsake his way," — his evil or 
wicked way ; his sinful course or manner, called his way, 
as being natural, customary, and dear to him, and in 
opposition to God's good way. 

"Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous 
man his thoughts;" the sinful desires and purposes of 
the heart, and thus he strikes at the root of all sinful 
actions, and shows that the heart must be changed, as 
well as the outward conduct. 

"Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous 



24 INVITATION. 

man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord." As he 
departed from God by sin, so let him return to God, by sin- 
cere repentance, and faith in the atoning merits of Christ, 
which will be productive of new obedience to the law 
of God. He will " cease to do evil and learn to do well. , ' 

III. Let us now consider the happy result, if the 
exhortation is complied with, or the sad result if it is 
rejected. 

If it is complied with and the wicked does forsake 
his wicked way, and his unrighteous thoughts, and if 
he will return to the Lord, God has promised that he 
will have mercy, and he will abundantly pardon. Glory be 
to Godxfor such a precious promise. Y'es, my readers, 
though your sins be as scarlet, they may be as white 
as snow, though they be red like crimson, comply with 
the terms of salvation, and you shall find that God will 
have mercy, and he will abundantly pardon. "For God so 
loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that 
whosoever belie veth on him, might not perish, but have 
everlasting life." 

But, if you reject God's offers of mercy, and wickedly 
refuse to have Christ Jesus to reign over you here, then 
at the judgment day, Christ will refuse to own you as one 
of his disciples, but will say : "Depart from me, ye cursed, 
into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." 
ki And these shall go away into everlasting punishment; 
but the righteous into fife eternal." In the prophecy 
of Isaiah, it reads, "Say ye to the righteous that it shall 
be well with him, for they shall eat the fruit of their 
doings. Wo unto the wicked ! it shall be ill with him ; for 
the reward of his hands shall be given him." And our 
Saviour taught when on earth, that "whosoever forsaketh 
father or mother or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's," 
should "receive an hundred fold in this life, with persecu- 



INVITATION. 25 

tions, and in the world to come eternal life." The Bible 
tells us. "Surely I know, that it shall be well with them 
that fear God, which fear before him: but it shall not 
be well with the wicked," and the Bible contains many 
illustrations, showing that it has been, and still shall 
be, well with the righteous, but ill with the wicked. It was 
well with Adam and Eve in the garden before they had 
sinned and broken God's law. It was well with righteous 
Abel, but ill with wicked Cain. It was well with righteous 
Noah, but ill with his wicked neighbors, who were drowned 
in the flood. It was well with righteous Daniel in the 
lions' den, and it was well with the Hebrew children in 
the fiery furnace, but it was ill with their wicked enemies, 
who tried to kill them because they strove to fear and obey 
God. 

When a part of the children of Israel forsook the com- 
mandments of the Lord, and followed the idol Baal, 
it went ill with them, for they did not have rain for years, 
and a great famine spread all over the land ; but when the 
Israelites returned to the true God, He had mercy on them 
and gave them rain. 

"But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong that 
he hath done, and there is no respect of persons." Col. 3 : 
25. And I can testify from my own experience, that when 
I have wandered away from God by sin, and neglected for 
a season to comply with the divine requirements, then 
it has been ill with me. But the Holy Spirit, as I trust, 
suggested this text of Scripture : "Let the wicked forsake 
his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let 
him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon 
him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon," and I 
fell upon my knees, confessed my sins, and I tried to 
return to God, pleading his promise, and the merits of 
Christ, His Son; and I asksd forgiveness for his Son's 



26 INVITATION. 

sake. God heard my prayer. He did have mercy, and 
abundantly pardoned. Glory be to God forever. 

"Then will I tell to sinners round. 
What a dear Saviour I have found ; 
I'll point to His redeeming blood, 
And say, behold the way to God." 
And to those who are now wandering away from God, 
and refusing to obey Him, the sixth and seventh verses of 
the 55th chapter of Isaiah are most kindly, yet warningly 
addressed, "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call 
ye upon Him while he is near .Let the wicked forsake his 
way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him re- 
turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to 
our God for He will abundantly pardon." For now pardon 
is offered to those who forsake their wicked ways, and 
return to God. But the words, "while he may be found," 
and "while he is near," imply that the time may come 
when those who have refused to comply with the terms of 
salvation, may cry like the rich man in torments, for mercy, 
but all in vain. The Lord having gone into the marriage 
supper, and the door being shut, it will be shut forever. 



fi Psalm of J-.ife, 



WHAT THE HEART OF TEE YOUNG MAN SAID TO THE 
PSALMIST. 



[H. W. LONGFELLOW.] 



Tell me not in mournful numbers, 
i 'Life is but an empty dream!" 

For the soul' is dead that slumbers, 
And things are not what they seem. 

Life is real ! Life is earnest ! 

Bnd the grave is not its goal; 
"Dust thou art, to dust returnest," 

Was not spoken of the soul. 

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, 

Is our destined end or way; 
But to act, that each to-morrow 

Find us farther than . to-day. 

Art is long, and Time is fleeting; 

And our hearts, though stout and brave, 
Still, like muffled drums, are beating 

Funeral marches to the grave. 

In the world's broad field of battle, 

In the bivouac of Life, 
Be not like dumb, driven cattle! 

Be a hero in the strife ! 



28 A PSALM OF LIFE. 

Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant ! 

Let the dead Past bury its dead! 
Act, — act in the living Present! 

Heart within, and God o'erhead! 

Lives of great men all remind us 
We can make our lives sublime, 

And, departing, leave behind us 
Footprints on the sands of time ; 

Footprints, that perhaps another, 
Sailing o'er life's solemn main, 

A forlorn and shipwrecked brother, 
Seeing, shell take heart again. 

Let us, then, be up and doing, 
With a heart for any fate; 

£till achieving, still pursuing, 
Lsarn to labor and to wait. 



j^ALTING. 



And Elijah came unto all the people and said How long 
halt ye oetioeen two opinions ? if the Lord be God, follow 
Him, but if Baal, then follow him. 1 Kings 18: 21. 

Let us as an introduction to this subject, say a few words 
about the history of this interesting event. It seems from 
the reading previous to this text, that Ahab, king of Israel, 
with four hundred and fifty other men, or false prophets, 
had left the worship of the true God, and gone to worship 
the idol Baal, which was the San. Jehovah was very angry 
with the king and the people of Israel, for leaving his wor- 
ship for that of idolatry, and Elijah, one of the Lord's 
prophets, said unto king Ahab. "As the Lord God of Israel 
liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew 
nor rain these years, but according to my word." 

Elijah is now commanded to hide himself, lest Ahab 
should kill him. Elijah hides himself and remains hid 
for three years and a half. While many others of the pro- 
phets of the Lord are slain, Elijah is hid, and kept alive by 
tke power of God. Bat at the end of three years and six 
months, he is commanded by God, to appear before Ahab. 

" And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab 
said unto him, Arc thou he that troubleth Israel ?" " And 
Elijah answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and 
thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the command- 
ments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Baalim." 

And the consequence as we have already seen, of their 
leaving the worship of God for that of idolatry, was that 
God shut up the windows of heaven, and there was no rain, 



SO HALTING. 

and in consequence of there being no rain, there came 
a great famine, all over the land. Elijah told Ahab 
to gather the prophets of Baal and the children of Israel 
unto Mount Carmel. They assemble, and Elijah addresses 
the people in the language of the text: "How long halt ye 
between two opinions ? if the Lord be God, follow him,, 
but if Baal, then follow him." 

Let us now consider what it is to halt between two opin- 
ions. In this instance, it was to omit, defer, or hesitate 
about doing the whole will of God. The people feared the 
King and Queen, and the false piophets, and as they wor- 
shiped the idol Baal, and Baal would allow the people to do 
as they pleased, they were strongly tempted to serve Baal. 
But their consciences told them better than to renounce 
wholly the true God. So they were undecided which they 
would serve. 

III. Let us now notice the sin of halting. The Bible tells 
us, "He that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him 
it is sin." Now if God by his Holy Spirit, or in any 
way, calls us to do any work for Him, and we instead 
of doing it immediately, delay, on the account of the love 
of ease, of friends, or the things of this world, we sin 
against God, for he has commanded us, "whatsoever thy 
hand findeth to do, do it with thy might, for there is 
no work nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the 
grave, whither thou goest." Eccl. 9 : 10. Let us then 
work while the day lasts, knowing that soon the night of 
death will come, when no man can work. 

IV. Let us now consider the folly of halting,— for there 
is great folly, as well as wickedness in indulging habits of 
halting, and neglecting our known duties, and especially is 
this foolish in us, to neglect our souls' salvation. "It is a 
sad sight to see men so nobly made, with such a lofty des- 
tiny before them, with so many high hopes of future good, 



HALTING. 81 

pursuing the miserable phantoms of this life, and choosing 
pleasure and sinful mirth, while heaven and immortality 
should be the objects of their choice. And I presume they 
will continue in this course of madness until death calls 
them away to the retributions of Eternity. " As it was in 
the days of Noah, so shall it be in the coming of the Son of 
Man." Men will eat and drink, work and play ; be sorrow- 
ful and merry uitil the end come, and the wicked shall be 
destroyed. 

And I fear that some will be so attached to their pleas- 
ures, that they will continue to sport with judgment, until 
the power of vengeance shall burst upon them." — Young 
Man's Friend, p. 125. Serm. on Dangerous Amusements. 

A few years since, I spoke to a young man of my ac- 
quaintance, about religion. He acknowledged he ought to 
attend to the subject ; but in a halting manner seemed in- 
clined to delay about it. I asked him if he did not intend- 
to seek religion before he died ? He said yes ; but he 
wanted to enjoy life first, then he would seek religion. I 
told him " delays were dangerous," and we parted. About 
three or four weeks after our talk together, he went to the 
Car Factory, to work, and was to all human appearance, 
doing well, as far as worldly matters were concerned ; when 
suddenly the steam boiler exploded, and this man and 
twenty-seven others were hurried into eternity, and it was 
supposed that not one of the number killed was a profes- 
sor of religion. Truly the way of the transgressor is hard, 
and the Bible tells us, that "The wicked shall be turned 
into hell, with all nations that forget God." Psalm 9 : 17, 
and also, "He that being often reproved, hardeneth his 
neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without reme- 
dy." Prov. 29: 1, 

In applying this snbject, let me say, 

To render acceptable service to God, we must love and 



32 HALTING. 

serve Him with our whole hearts. Jesus said, " He that is 
not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with 
me scattereth abroad." The Bible tells us <; God is faith- 
ful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that 
ye are able, but will with the temptation also make a way 
to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." 1 Cor. 10 ; 13. 
If we all are tempted, we should with God's help, give the 
devil a decided No Sir. 

Let us examine ourselves, and see whose service we are 
now in. If you are not now striving to love the Lord 
with all your heart, you are not in his service, for the Bi- 
ble tells us, "His servants ye are, whom ye yield your- 
selves servants to obey," and if you are not in God's 
service you must be in the Devil's service ; and if you con- 
tinue thus, against God until death, I can only point you 
to hell as your future unhappy home. The saying of 
Christ is, " For what is a man profited if he shall gain 
the whole world and lose his own soul ?" Matt. 16 : 26. 
I once heard or read of a man who fell asleep in his boat 
which was fastened near the shore. While he was sleeping 
the boat became unloosed, and drifted down the river. 
The man continued for a while to sleep, unconscious of his 
danger. When he did finally awake, he was too near 
the fall to escape, and passed rapidly on to destruction. So 
it is with many a sinner asleep in sin. He drifts down the 
stream of life, and when warned by his friends, he says, 
"There is no danger for me," until accident or sudden 
sickness comes and death stares him in the face, then 
he awakes to his awful condition, out of Christ, and 
exclaims, " It is too late," and dies. " How long halt ye be- 
tween two opinions ?" 

If upon a careful examination of your hearts, you find 
that you are now striving to love the Lord with all your 
heart, and your neighbor as yourself, and continue eo to do, 



HALTING. 38 

until death, I can with pleasure, point you to heaven 
as your future happy home forever. For the promise left 
to us Christians, servants of Christ, is, "Be thou faithful 
unto death and I will give thee a crown of life." 

I once read an incident, which very strongly illustrates 
the folly and also the sad consequences of halting and neg- 
lecting known duties. The incident is said to have oc- 
curred while the French army occupied the city of Mos- 
cow. A party of officers and soldiers determined to have 
military dancing assemblies, and for this purpose chose the 
deserted palace of a Russian nobleman, in the vault of 
which a large quantity of powder had been deposited. As 
the sun went down, they began to assemble. The gayest 
and noblest of the army were there, and merriment reign- 
ed over the crowd. That night the city was burnt. During 
the dance the fire rapidly approached them ; they saw 
it coming, but felt no fear. At length the building next 
the one which they occupied was on fire. Coming to the 
windows, they gazed upon the billows of fire which swept 
upon their fortress, and then returned to their amusement. 
Again and again they left their pleasure, to watch the pro- 
gress of the flames. At length the dance ceased and the 
necessity of leaving the scene of merriment became appa- 
rent to all. They were enveloped in a flood of fire, 
and gazed on with deep and awful solemnity. At length 
the fire communicating to their own building, caused them 
to prepare for flight, when a brave young officer, named 
Carnot, waved his jeweled glove above his head, and 
exclaimed, " One dance more, and defiance to the flame." 
All caught the enthusiasm of the moment, and " One dance 
more and defiance to the flame," burst from the lips of all. 
The dance commenced, louder and louder grew the sound 
of music, and faster and faster fell the pattering footsteps 
of dancing men and women, when suddenly they heard a 



34 HALTING. 

cry, "The fire has reached the magazine! fly! fly! for 
life!" One moment they stood, transfixed with horror; 
they did not know the magazine was there, and ere they re- 
covered from their stnpor, the vault exploded, the building 
was shattered to pieces, and the dancers were hurled into a 
fearful eternity. The Scripture tells us " To day if ye will 
hear his voice," that is, God's voice, "harden not your 
hearts," and I would say in the language of the poet, 

"Behold a stranger at the door, 
He gently knocks, has knocked before : 
Has waited long, is waiting still, 
You treat no other friend so ill. 

Rise, filled with gratitude divine, 
Turn out his enemy and thine, 
That soul-destroying monster, sin, 
And let the heavenly stranger in. 

Admit him, lest his anger burn, 
His feet departed, near return, 
Admit him, for the hour's at hand, 
You'll at his door rejected stand." 




Idleness Leads to Want. 



jSlothfulness. 



Slothf ulness consists in M being idle, or unemployed ; in 
a state of inactivity," or in neglecting to perform the work 
which God by his providence calls us to perform. 

It is not always necessary to be entirely unemployed in 
order to be slothful. For a young man may be engaged in 
reading the newspapers through the day, when he should 
be studying his lessons, and though he is employed in read- 
ing, yet he is slothful, because he neglects his proper busi- 
ness. 

A man may be slothful by occupying more time than is 
necessary, by being slow in doing his work. 

If a person allow himself to lie in bed one or two hours 
in the morning longer than is necessary for health, that 
person is slothful. One hour occupied in lying in bed 
every morning after we should be up, will amount to three 
hundred and sixty-five hours in the course of a year, or fif- 
teen days and five hours in one year, seventy-six days and 
one hour in five years. The diligent student seizes the 
morning hours ; and while thousands of human beings, 
"less resolute and diligent, are slumbering, he is pushing 
rapidly and strongly the great work of his life." 

Dr. Doddridge owed the production of his " Family Ex- 
positor," and most of his other writings, to his rising at five 
instead of seven o'clock in the morning. Other men have 
saved by the habit of early rising, many precious hours, 
and devoted them to study. These precious hours that 
may be saved, no person has the right to waste by slothful- 
ness ; "nor to sacrifice for the sake of any graceless self- 
indulgence." He should strive to redeem them ; for, in so 



SLOTHFULNKSS. 37 

many redeemed hours he may, with God's help make an 
impression ou the world that will affect the latest ages, 
and gather for himself slory that will never fade away. 
The diligent student "labors with his might. Every en- 
ergy is called to the subject under investigation." "If 
h'.s thoughts wander for a moment, they are immediately 
summoned anew, and led on with increased energy and 
power, until the allotted task is finished, and the mind 
has triumphed." 

The slothful man loses many blessings he might enjoy 
just as well as not if he would be diligent and try to do- 
what he is able, for himself and others. 

We can be slothful in our thoughts. 1st, By not being: 
diligent in thinking, or not thinking to some purpose, or 
on some good subject. And we can think on subjects 
foreign to our proper duties, and think on those things 
that are hurtful to the mind instead of that which tends 
to profit. 2d, Much misery is caused by habits of sloth- 
fulness. " The sluggard desireth and hath nothing, be- 
cause his hands refuse to labor." "Except a man deny 
himself, take up his cross and follow Christ," he can not 
be his disciple. Nothing can be accomplished but by 
persevering effort. But while the slothful lose so much 
by negligence, the Bible tells us, " The thoughts of the 
diligeut tend only to plenteousness." 

We are admonished to be "not slothful in business," 
but diligent in business, " ferveut in spirit serving tke 
Lord." " Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with 
thy might." Here of course we are only allowed to do 
those things that are in accordance with God's will. 
" I ear God and keep his commandments, for this is the 
whole duty of man." For God will bring every work 
into judgment, "whether it be good, or whether it be evil." 
C 



. 



'RAYEF^FOF^ ^ZlON. 



" Pray for the peace of Jerusalem ; they shall prosper that 
love tliee." Psalm 122 : 6. 

Jerusalem was a place of great importance and inter- 
est to the children of Israel, because the house of the 
Lord was there. It was the great seat and center of reli- 
gion and justice. Thither the different tribes went up to 
worship the Lord, for there the ordinances of his wor- 
ship were established. When David said, " pray for the 
peace of Jerusalem," he may be understood as speaking 
figuratively, and not only to pray for the protection and 
prosperity of the city, but also for the enlargement and 
establishment of God's church. 

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, not for an absence of 
strife and confusion merely, for that is implied. Nor was 
it for a mere stagnant or indifferent state, for in stagnant 
pools of water there may be deadly pestilential gases 
arising, that would injure and destroy the health of the 
people. But David desired the protection of God, and 
the real prosperity, both of the city, and also of the 
Church of God. 

As applied to ourselves, for what should we pray, if we 
desire the prosperity of the Church of God at the pres- 
ent time? 

In the first place, then, we should pray for the sancti- 
fication of the people. David had prayed, " Create with- 
in me a clean heart." "The blessing of the Lord is in 
the house of the righteous : but his curse is in the house 
of the wicked." Jesus said, " out of the heart proceed 
evil thoughts." A woman loved jewelry better than to 



PRAYER FOR ZION. 39 

have a sanctified lieart. A wicked "Achan" in tlie 
camp, caused the loss of many lives. 

Secondly, We pray for a spirit of inquiry and solici- 
tude for the salvation of others. When Wesley's heart 
was warmed with the love of God, he wanted to save 
others. The primitive Church felt so. A man spent all 
night in prayer, then went next morning and told an- 
other " I am anxious about your soul." The man he 
spoke to thought if he was anxious about him, he ought 
to be anxious about himself, and began to pray and was 
converted. A young lady at a camp meeting, after she 
was converted at the altar, went back a little way into 
the congregation and brought her little brother to the 
altar. 

Thirdly, We should pray for a continuance of brotherly 
love, in the heart. We are commanded to love each 
other, and we should remember the power of indirect 
influences. 

Fourthly, Pray for the peace of Jerusalem or the 
Church of God, in that the people may have a faithful 
attendance on the ordinances of God's house. There is 
nothing more hurtful to our soul's prosperity, than neg- 
lecting the means of grace, and this 1 have proved by my 
own experience. 

Now look at the exhortation, Pray for the peace or 
prosperity of Jerusalem, or the Church of God. And 
this implies a continuance in praying, so that it may 
bring the prosperity we desire. 

Notice some of the benefits we receive from praying. 

1, Our hearts are cleansed as the result of prayer. In 
the 10th chapter of Judges, we have an account of the 
children of Israel forsaking God to serve idols, of 
their being sore distressed ; they cried unto the Lord, and 
at first he would not deliver them. They put away the 



40 PRAYER FOR ZION. 

strange gods from anions them, and served the Lord : 
and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel. In the 
next chapter we find that a deliverer was raised up and 
God delivered their enemies into their hands. 

2, Another benefit of prayer is, it increases our inter- 
est in the object we pray for : i. e., if we want clean 
hearts, or the mind that was in Jesus, pray, read God's 
word, and meditate. If we want sinners saved, or the 
Church to prosper, pray for it. 

It is the man who does not go to the closet and pray, 
that famishes, and it is the one who neglects the prayer- 
meeting, who has but little interest in the meetings. 
Another effect of prayer is, we may have an abundance 
of the Holy Spirit. It may not come in so great a power 
at first, but the more we pray, the more we shall have, 
even groaning that cannot be uttered. The reason why 
we are not more efficient in the service of God is, the 
want of more of the Holy Spirit. 

At the Saybrook camp-meeting, I think it was, but lit- 
tle was accomplished for two days. A man preached on 
the Holy Spirit, and when that came, then the work of 
God prospered. Sinners were led to feel and to flock to 
the altar. 

Again, pray, because it secures God's help. Many are 
the instances of this in God's word. Sampson prayed, 
when he was thirsty, and God gave him water out of the 
ass' jaw bone, with which he had slain a thousand 
Philistines. Judges 15: 15. God's word in our text 
should afford us encouragement to pray and labor for 
the Church ; for " they shall prosper that love thee." 

Peter loved the Church, and though put in prison, yet 
the Church prayed for him and God heard and delivered 
him. God has said, " They that honor me I will honor, 
but they that despise me, shall be lightly esteemed." 






PHRISTIAN jZEAL.* 



Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the 
error of his way, shall save a soul from death, and shall 
hide a multitude of sins. James 5 : 20. 

Introduction. — Has God in mercy provided that 
fallen, rebellious, wicked man may be saved through re- 
pentance, and faith in Christ ; and has he condescended 
to use man as an instrument in saving his fellow men 1 ? 
Why then do not professed Christians exert themselves 
more, that with the help of God they may convert 
sinners from the error of their way, and save souls from 
death, and hide a multitude of sins? Alas, how little 
do we consider the sad and dangerous state of sin- 
ners around us. We, who have felt the love of God in 
our hearts, while they have it not;. We see them wan- 
dering quite out of the narrow way, into the broad road 
that leads to destruction, and yet, how few is the num- 
ber of professed disciples of Christ who seriously and 
faithfully show sinners their error and danger, and help 
them with all their might into the way that leads to life. 
As this work is very important, both as to the glory of 
God, and the salvation of men, let us consider the nature 
of this work, and how it is to be performed. 

We do not think it necessary, in order to convert sin. 
ners from the error of their way, and save souls from 
death, that every man should turn a public preacher, or 
that any should go beyond the bounds of their particu- 
lar calling. This duty is of another nature. 

But each Christian should have his heart touched in 

* Much of this is taken from Baxter's "Saints' Rest." 



42 CHRISTIAN ZEAL. 

sympathy for his fellow men, who are still in the broad 
road to destruction. We should long for their conver- 
sion and salvation ; and if we anxiously desired their 
conversion and salvation, it would prompt us to pray and 
labor for them ; and when rightly performed, with God's 
blessing, our labor is never in vain in the Lord. 

Should we be among the ignorant, we should improve 
every opportunity of instructing them in the way of sal- 
vation. Strive to show them, that man by breaking 
God's law lost the Divine favor, and that now " God is 
angry with the wicked every day." Also teach that " God 
so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, 
that whosoever believeth on him, might not perish, but 
have everlasting life." 

Tell the sinner of the happiness and blessings which 
believers in Christ enjoy, both in this life and that which, 
is to come. Also describe to him the extremity and 
eternity of the torments of the damned ; the justice of 
enduring them for willfully refusing grace ; the certainty 
of death and the judgment ; the sinfulness of sin ; the 
preciousness of Christ, and the necessity of regeneration, 
faith and true* holiness. 

But be careful in performing this work, to begin with 
right motives. Do the work with an eye single to the 
glory of God, and the salvation of men ; and also let it 
be done as quickly as possible. Consider that the sinner 
stands in a dangerous situation, his time of probation 
hastening away, and while you may be purposing to save 
him, sin is taking deeper root, habit is growing strong, 
the probabilities of his being saved are lessening every ' 
hour ; temptations to sin multiply ; conscience grows 
seared, the heart hardened, — the devil rules, — Christ 
is shut out, the Holy Spirit is grieved, God is daily dis- 



CHRISTIAN ZEAL. 43 

honored, his law violated. He is robbed of that glory 
and service which he should receive, time runs on, 
death and judgment are at the door, and what if the 
man die, and drop into hell, while you are purposing to 
X>revent it ? 

That physician is no.better than a murderer, who neg- 
ligently delays till his patient be dead, or past cure. Go 
to poor sinners with tears in your eyes, and show them 
that it is your sense of their danger, and your love to 
their souls that leads you to speak to them, and warn 
them to '• flee from the wrath to come," and to ask them 
to consider the solemn question, " How will ye escape, if 
ye neglect so great a salvation ?'' And let your manner 
be serious, and earnest, and labor to make your efforts 
effectual. Labor to make men know that heaven and 
hell are not matters to be played with, or to be passed 
over with a few careless thoughts. Tell them it is most 
certain, that soon thou shalt be in everlasting joy, or tor- 
ment ; and doth it not awaken thee I Are there so few 
that find the way of lite? so many that go the way of 
death 1 ? God is just, and his threatenings are true. Oh 
friends, what do you think of these tbings ? Alas ! it is 
not a few dull words between jest and earnest, between 
sleeping and waking, that will rouse a dead hearted sin- 
ner. If a house be on fire, you will not make a cold ora- 
tion on the nature and danger of fire ; but will run and 
cry, "Fire!" "Fire!" 

And if we see men in danger of eternal fire, we should 
not treat them negligently, like as Eli did his fous, but 
faithfully warn them, so that like the Apostle Paul, we 
can say, " Wherefore I take you to record this day, that 
I am pure from the blood of all men. ,? " For I have not 
shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God." 
Acts 20 : 26, 27. 



44 CHRISTIAN ZEAL. 

In performing this work, we should look up to God for 
wisdom, and the assistance of his Holy Spirit, to guide us 
in our efforts, that we may really do as God would have 
us do. So far as right, I think we should seek out accep- 
table words, and what we speak should be words of truth. 
And it is well as much as possible, to have our reproofs 
and exhortations backed up with the word of God, and 
to follow sinners with loving, earnest entreaties, and give 
them no rest in their sins ; telling them that the word of 
the Lord declares, '* When the soul hath done that which 
is lawful and right, and hath kept all my statutes, and 
done them, he shall surely live." " The soul that sinneth 
it shall die." 

"The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neith- 
er shall the father bear the iniquity of the son; the right- 
eousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the 
wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him." "But if the 
wicked will turn from all his sins, that he hath committed, 
and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and 
right, he shall surely live, he shall not die." "Repent, and 
turn yourselves from all your transgressions ; so iniquity 
shall not be your ruin." And in the language of the poet 
we can say, 

" There is beyond the sky, 

A heaven of joy and love. 
And holy children when they die, 

Go to that world above. 

There is a dreadful hell, 

And everlasting pains ; 
There sinners must with devils dwell, 

In darkness, fire and chains." 

If Christians earnestly desired the salvation of souls, it 
would lead them not only to give good counsel, but also to 
watch for fruit. They should not rest satisfied with a few 



CHRISTIAN ZEAL. 45 

feeble efforts, but if we have opportunity, "cry aloud and 
spare not," and show the people their sins. Strive also to 
save them by your own good example as well as by your 
words. A faithful consistent Christian life has a great 
effect in arousing the consciences of sinners around you, 
and helps greatly to lead them from the path of sin to the 
service of God. 

Let us consider some of the causes why professed 
Christians do not exert themselves more to save souls. 
One reason is, because they enjoy so little of God's love in 
their own hearts. They do not deny themselves as they 
should, take up their cross and follow Christ. They are 
guilty of sins they should reprove, and this makes them 
ashamed to reprove. 

Again, there is too much unbelief in men's hearts, con- 
cerning God's threatenings to the wicked. He has taught 
in his holy word that "the wicked shall be turned into hell, 
with all nations that forget God." Bat the devil and many 
of his servants have taught, that the wicked shall not 
surely die ; and have endeavored to make mankind believe 
in universal salvation. The Bible teaches that " The day 
is coming in the which all that are in their graves shall 
hear his voice, and come forth, they that have done good, 
to the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, to 
the resurrection of damnation." Did we verily believe that 
our wicked neighbors and acquaintances, with all that dis- 
obey God, except they be converted from the error of 
then- way, and become as little children, they can in no 
case enter the kingdom of heaven, but "These shall go 
away into everlasting punishment," did we verily believe 
this gospel doctrine, would it not lead us to be more zeal- 
ous in saving our own souls and also the souls of those 
around us ? I think it would. Our efforts to save souls, 
are much hindered by the want of kind and loving sympa- 



46 CHKISTIAN ZEAL. 

thy for those suffering in sin. We see them in their 
wretchedness, but pass them by, as the priest and levite 
did by the wounded man. Although the sinner himself 
does not desire thy help, yet his lost and wretched condi- 
tion through sin, calls for your sympathy and help. "If 
God had not liieard the cry of our miseries, before ho heard 
the cry of our prayers, and been moved by his own pity 
before he was moved by our importunity, we might long 
have continued the slaves of Satan." 

You will pray to God for them, to open their eyes, and 
turn their hearts : and why not endeavor to procure their 
conversion if you desire it ? A sinful, man-pleasing disposi- 
tion prevents many from laboring for souls as they should. 
Another reason is a sinful bashfulness. While sinners will 
swear, get drunk, and neglect the service of God without a 
blush, we blush when we try to tell them of their sins and 
endeavor to persuade them from them. ''Has not conscience 
told thee of thy duty many a time, -and urged thee to 
speak to poor sinners ; and yet thou hast been ashamed' to 
open thy mouth, and so let them alone to sink or swim." 
Consider the words of the text, "Whosoever therefore 
shall be ashamed of me and of my words, in this adulter- 
ous and perverse generation, of him also shall the Son of 
Man be ashamed when he ccmeth in the glory of his 
Father, with the holy angels." W T e need much zeal and 
patience, and perseverance, if we would convert sinners 
from the error of their way to the service of Christ. 

An idle and impatient spirit hindereth us, for this work 
does not always succeed at first, except it be followed by 
patient, persevering, faithful efforts. "We must be long in 
teaching the ignorant, and in persuading the obstinate. 
We consider not what patience God used toward us when 
we were in our sins. Wo to us, if God had been as impa- 
tient with us as we are with others. And with many, pride 



CHRISTIAN ZEAL. 47 

is a great hindrance. They do not love to go. among the 
poor and take pains with them in their cottages. " Little 
know you what many a soul may now be feeling in hell, 
who died in their sins, for want of your faithful admoni- 
tion." Think how Christ acted about saving souls, consid- 
ering them worth the shedding of his blood, so that they 
might be saved. It is our duty to love our neighbor as 
ourselves, and do Christians love God with all their hearts,, 
and their neighbor as themselves, that will see their neigh- 
bors go on in the broad road to hell and destruction > 
and never try to hinder them ? Consider what a load of 
guilt it will bring upon thy soul, to neglect this duty ! for 
thou shalt be guilty of the loss of all the souls that perish 
through your neglect. And if you die unforgivcn of your 
neglected duties, you must perish ; and oh, how it will in- 
crease your torment to all eternity, to think of souls lost 
through your neglect, and to see poor eouls in torment,, 
and hear them cry out, " oh, if you had but told me plainly 
of my sin and danger, and set it home to my heart, I might 
have escaped all this torment." But if you do your duty,, 
you will probably have more joy in heaven the more eoul& 
you are instrumental in saving. "Let him know, that-- 
he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way,, 
shall save a soul from death, and hide a multitude of sins.'" 

Do not despair of success : cannot God give it ? And 
must it not be by means ? Do not plead, it will only be 
casting pearls before swine. "When you are in danger to> 
be torn in pieces, Christ would have you forbear ; but 
what is that to you, who are in no such danger ? As locg, 
as they will hear, you will have encouragement to e peak., 
and may not cast them off as contemptible "swine." 

Consider how conscience will trouble you bye and bye, if' 
you continue to neglect this duty. You will remember op- 
portunities when you were in company with the wicked.. 



48 CBRISTIAN ZEAL. 

and had time and fit opportunity to warn them of their sin 
and danger, and in Christ's stead to persuade them to "flee 
from the wrath to come," but you did it not, or to little pur- 
pose. What a seasonable time you now have for this work. 
But your neighbors will shortly die, and so will you! 
Speak to them, therefore, while you may. For if you are 
faithful in this work, God will have much glory by it, the 
Church will be multiplied, and your own soul will enjoy 
more improvement and vigor in the divine life. Be faith- 
ful then, even against the greatest discouragements, being 
"steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of 
the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in 
vain in the Lord." For the Lord assists those who come 
up willingly to do his work. As all Christians have some 
part of this work to perform, so especially have those 
whom God in his wisdom has fitted and called to it. A few 
thoughts to such persons. God especially expects you to 
work, to whom he has given more learning and knowledge, 
and endowed with better utterance than your neighbors. 
God looks for a faithful improvement of your powers and 
gifts, which if you neglect, it becomes sin; "For to him 
that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." 
And unless these neglects are forgiven through the aton- 
ing merits of Christ, the negligent must perish at last, and 
others perhaps perish also through their neglect. 

And those who are particularly acquainted with some un- 
godly persons, and have peculiar interest in them; how 
can you tell but God gave you that interest in them, to 
this end, that you might be the means of their conversion ? 
Physicians attending the sick, should strive as opportunity 
affords, to keep a good conscience concerning this duty. 
You have a peculiar advantage with the ungodly. They 
look to you with respect, and hope for help, that their 
bodies may be restored to health, and while you pity their 



CHK1STIAN ZEAL. 49 

bodily sufferings, and point them to the remedy that may 
heal them, ah, try to teach them how to live, and how to 
die, and point them to a remedy for their souls, as you do 
for their bodies, and try to fit them to enjoy heaven forever. 
Men of wealth and authority have excellent opportunities 
for this duty, and may be instrumental in doing much 
good, if they but have hearts to improve their influence 
over others. A good man whom God has blessed with 
wealth, should feel that he is God's steward ; and remem- 
ber that u unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall 
much be required." If you speak to your neighbors for 
God, and about their souls, you may be regarded, when 
even a minister would be despised. As you value the 
honor of God, your own comfort, and the salvation of 
souls, faithfully improve your stewardship, that at last it 
maybe said to you, ''Well done, good and faithful servant, 
enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." 

Ministers of the Gospel should make it the main end of 
all their preaching, praying, studying, and all their labor 
to glorify God and save souls. They strive with God's 
help, to "be workmen that need not be ashamed," and 
work as though they believed the doctrine they taught, 
even that their hearers must believe and submit to the will 
of God, and be saved by faith in Christ, or else be lost for- 
ever. And those to whom God has entrusted the care of 
children, let me persuade you to this great work of trying 
with divine help, to convert and save their souls. Consider 
what plain and pressing commands of God require this at 
your hands. " Train up a child in the way he should 
go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." ' 'Bring up 
your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.' 
Your care and cost for their bodies will condemn you 
if you neglect their souls. It is a great charge you are en- 
trusted with, and wo to you if you suffer them to be igno- 



30 CHRISTIAN ZEAL. 

:rant or wicked for want of your instruction or correction. 
-But if you succeed in their conversion, and you and they 
;are finally saved, I think it will increase your joy forever to 
a*enect that you tried with the help of grace to do your 
duty in striving to save their souls. I charge you upon 
;your allegiance to God, and as you will very shortly be 
brought to the judgment, that you neither refuse nor neg- 
lect this important duty. They are with you in their child- 
hood and youth, and may be influenced for good, or evil, 
•easier while young, than when they have become old, 
«ven as the young twig can be bent easier than the old oak. 
"If you think you cannot do for them what you would do, 
«till try and do what you can. 

Will you resolve now, God willing, that you will enter 
upon this duty, and neglect it no longer ? For the text tells 
us, li Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner 
from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and 
>ahall hid© a multitude of sins." And if he that converts 
a sinner fiom the error of his way, saves a soul from death 
and hides a multitude of sins, will not all my unconverted 
readers take the alarm, and try to get converted as soon as 
possible, that with the help of grace, they may be saved ; 
and also be instrumental in saving souls from death, and 
triding a great multitude of sins ? As you would not be 
charged before God as the murderer of souls, nor have 
them cry out against you in the judgment, see that you 
teach them to escape it, and bring them up in holiness and 
the fear of God. If you are not willing to do this work 
now that you know it to be so great a duty, you are rebels, 
and no true subjects of Jesus Christ. Try to lead them by 
your own good example, to prayer, reading God's word, 
and other religious duties ; keep tender their consciences ; 
reform and watch over their outward conversation, and 
especially observe the Lord's day in this work, and suf- 



A LITTLE WORD. 51 

fer it not to pass away in sports or idleness, but study 
God's word, and other good books, and recommend the 
same to others. Keep good company and try to help 
the ungod]y in that way. Try above all, to love and serve 
God with all your heart, and help others to do so, and then 
with Divine help, your labor shall not be in vain in the 
Lord. For He is with those who come up willingly to the 
help of the Lord. 



A LITTLE WORD. 

" A little word in kindness spoken, 

A motion or a tear 
Has often healed the heart that's broken, 

And made a friend sincere. 

A word — a look — has crushed to eartfi, 

Full many a budding flower, 
Which, had a smile but owned its birth, 

"Would bless life's darkest hour. 

Then deem it not an idle thing 

A pleasant word to speak, 
The face you wear, the thoughts you bring 

A heart, may heal or break." 



The ^arvest Past, 



In reading the bock of Jeremiah, we find these words : 
" The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not 
saved" Here the prophet speaks in the name of the peo- 
ple, or rather represents them, besieged in Jerusalem, and 
complaining on account of the length of the siege. Their 
false prophets had amused them with Tain hopes of deliv- 
erance, and they had expected the Egyptians to come to 
their relief. But the harvest went past and the summer 
came to an end, and no deliverance came to them. 

Why was it that they were not saved ? 

The Bible tells us that the people of Israel forsook the 
worship of God for that of graven images, and as they 
provoked him to anger by their idolatries, he would no 
longer help them. The prophet had seen a vision, in 
which he had described to him the dreadful calamities and 
sufferings that were coming on the people, on account of 
their sins ; and he speaks of the thing as already present, 
because it was soon to happen, and it was represented to 
him in his vision as already present. 

Oh, the great importance of working when it is time 
to work, and striving to save our souls " while it is called 
to-day, for soon the night will come, when no man can 
work." 

\ ' Swift the moments fly away, 
First the hour, and then the day ; 
Next the week, the month, the year 
Steal away and disappear." 



THE HARVEST PAST. 5o 

"Now is the accepted time, 

The Saviour calls to-day ; 
To-morrow, it may be too late, 

Then why should you delay P 

The people might have repented and forsaken their sins, 
but they regarded not the word of the Lord ; and the 
harvest went past and the summer ended, and yet they 
were not saved. " Opportunities are calls from God, they 
pass by and return no more. Having found what to do, we 
are required to do it with our might. 

This implies at least two things. That we do it without 
delay, and that we be in good earnest. Many things whicli 
our hands find to do at one time, may not be practicable at 
another ; and therefore will not be done at all, if not done 
immediately. 

If we look into the history of the church, we shall find 
that the men who were the most useful in God's cause, 
were those who were in real earnest, and who labored with 
all their might. When God would redeem Israel, it was 
by one who was prepared to sacrifice a kingdom and a 
crown in his service, and who esteemed "the reproach of 
Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt." 

We are hastening to the grave. Every step we take, 
every hour we pass, we are going thither. Other things 
may be uncertain, as whether we are going to heaven or 
hell ; but this is certain, nor do we know how soon we 
may reach the end of our journey. When we come thither, 
all our activity for God or man is forever at an end : "for 
there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in 
the grave whither thou goest. :> A minister once said at 
the funeral of a young man, "Whatever he had left un- 
done, was left undone forever." What a loud call then is 
this to the ungodly. Life is the only time to escape the 
wrath to come ; this time is now in your hand, if you ha^ e 



54 THE HARVEST PAST. 

but a heart to improve it. A door is now open, but soon it 
will be shut forever. Christ is the way of life and salva- 
tion, but the way will be of no use, when we have arrived 
at the end of our course, and the scene of life is closed up. 

What a loud call also to Christians, to redeem the time, 
and live wholly to the Lord. There is much to do, and the 
time is short ; let us therefore labor with renewed dili- 
gence, and be as those who wait for their Lord. 

In the days of Noah, God saw that the wickedness 
of men was great in the earth, and he determined to de- 
stroy them by a great flood. But Noah was found right- 
eous before God, and he was commanded to build an 
ark in which he and his family might be saved. Noah 
preached righteousness to the people and warned them of 
the coming flood, but they would not harken to his word, 
and the "harvest" of opportunity passed, and they were 
not saved. But as the days of Noah were, so shall also 
the coming of the Son of Man be. "For as in the days 
that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, 
marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah 
entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, 
and took them all away ; so shall also the coming of the 
Son of Man be." 

"Then shall two be in the field ; the one shall be taken 
and the other left," 

" Watch, therefore; for ye know not what hour your 
Lord doth come. But know this, that if the good man of 
the house had known in what watch the thief would come, 
he would have watched, and would not have suffered his 
bouse to be broken up." 

"Therefore be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye 
think not, the Son of Man cometh." 

"No room for mirth or trifling here, 
For worldly hope or worldly fear, 
If life so soon is gone." 



THE HARVEST PAST. 55 

11 What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole "world 
and lose his own soul?" Its faculties will be lasting 
as eternity, and to the good I think it will be a source 
of comfort, to remember, that in their life time they 
endeavored to do good and keep God's commandments. 
Bat it will be a source of sorrow to the wicked, to reflect 
that they have misimproved their time, their privileges and 
their talents to the neglect of Christ and his cause. Oh, 
what a pang went to the rich man's heart when it was told 
him to "remember, that in his life time he had received 
Ms good things, but Lazarus his evil things. Now he 
is comforted, while thou art tormented." 

Let us consider, and strive to make sure work of seeking 
our own soul's salvation, now while we have time and op- 
portunity. I want my skirts clear, and I would tell you 
p>lainly, you cannot go to eternity and say nobody warned 
me. " No man cared for my soul," but in Scripture lan- 
guage I would say, "surely, I know it shall be well with 
them that fear God, but it shall not be well with the 
wicked;" and "what shall it profit a man if he gain the 
whole world and lose his own soul?" "Remember now thy 
Creator." 

The soul is immortal. In eternity the conscience and 
memory will not be annihilated. Will a man have an idea 
of going to heaven blind ? No, never. Neither will he go 
to hell blind. There he shall see the fallen angels ; and 
there he shall have the society of the wicked, and have no 
comfort forever. 

"Fear not them which kill the body but are not able to 
kill the soul ; but rather fear him which is able to destroy 
both soul and body in hell." 

Some, I fear, to whom I now speak, will continue to delay 
and neglect then- souls' salvation, and finally be lost forever. 



Future Reward and Punishment. 



" And it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried 
by the angels into AaraharrCs bosom ; the rich man also 
died and was buried ; and in hell he lifted up his eyes, 
being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Laza- 
rus in his bosom." Luke 16 : 22, 23. 

I wish to call your attention to four leading ideas con- 
tained in these verses : which are, 1st, The fact noticed,, 
the two men spoken of, both died. 2d, Their condition be- 
fore they died. 3d, Their condition after death. 4th, The 
inducements held out to us, to escape hell and get to 
heaven. 

Let us look at the first thought. The two men spoken 
of both died. In the Bible it says, "It is appointed unto 
men once to die, and after death the judgment." The rich, 
the poor, the middle class, the good and bad, men of all 
conditions in life ; it is appointed unto all once to die. We 
can none of us escape it. With the exception of only two 
men. Enoch and Elijah, very holy men, who walked with 
God, keeping his commandments, and were taken home to 
heaven without suffering death ; with these two exceptions, 
all the thousands who have lived before us have died. 
Yes, and we are passing away. Death is on our track. 
Soon we shall be calle I to die. Out of the thousands who 
have lived, there probably is not one now living that is two 
hundred years old. It is supposed from accounts that we 
receive, that one dies every second. That would be sixty 
every minute, or thirty-six hundred every hour. Truly, 
whate'er we do, where'er we are, we are traveling to the 



FUTUKE REWAED AND PUNISHMENT. 57 

tomb. 2d. Consider the condition of those two men before 
they died. It is said of one, "he was rich." This in 
Christ's account is the first part of his sin. ' ■ Here is the 
first degree of his reprobation, he got all he could, and 
kept all to himself. He did not devote it to the glory 
of God. It is not considered a sin to have an abundance 
of this world's goods, but it is a sin to become proud 
of what God has given us, and not to devote it to his ser- 
vice. The second part of his sin, he was clothed with pur- 
ple and fine linen. Thirdly, he fared sumptuously every 
day. And Adam Clark says in his comment on this pas- 
sage of Scripture, "That no other evil is spoken of him, 
and in comparison with thousands, he was not only blame- 
less, but he was a virtuous man." "And considering all 
the circumstances, our blessed Lord does not represent 
this man as a monster of inhumanity; but merely as 
an indolent man, who sought and had his portion in this 
life, and was not at all concerned about any other ;" and 
Christ has said, "a man cannot serve two masters." 

Now consider the condition of the other man. It is 
stated in the verse, "There was a certain beggar, which 
was laid at his" (the rich man's) " gate, full of sores." It 
seems then, that he was poor and afflicted. Yet Dr. Clark 
tells us, "his character was good." And if so, he was 
a happy man, with all his afflictions. The Bible tells us. 
" Happy is the man whose God is the Lord." "The fear 
of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." "Her ways are 
ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." The 
poet says, 

"How happy every child of grace, 

Who knows his sins forgiven ; 
This earth, he cries, is not my place, 

I seek my place in heaven." 

This brings us to the third part of our subject. Their 
condition after death! 1st, In the verse it says, "And 



58 FUTURE REWARD AND PUNISHMENT. 

it came to pass that the beggar died, and was carried by 
the angels into Abraham's bosom." This was a phrase 
used by the Jews, to signify "the Paradise of God.' r 
The end of Lazarus was glorious. Although he was poor 
and afflicted when on earth, yet he feared God, and when 
death caiue he was not left alone ; for a company of 
angels were sent, which brought him safely home to 
heaven. Glory be to God. " Mark the perfect man, and 
behold the upright, for the end thereof is peace." 2d. The 
"rich man also died, and was buried, and in hell he lifted 
up his eyes, being in torments." Look at the circum- 
stances of his punishment. First, Be sees Lazarus in 
heaven, clothed with glory and immortality. Second, 
as stated in the 25th verse, he was told by Abraham to 
remember that in his life time he received his good 
things. We are to remember if lost in hell, that we 
have had time, grace and opportunities to prepare for 
heaven, and that it is our own fault that we are lost. 
But unless we repent of our sins, there is no escaping it. 
Jesus said, except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish. 
Sinners will die and go to hell, unless they repent, get 
converted, and are reconciled to God when they die. 
Third circumstance, " Actual torments in the flames 
of the bottomless pit, will form through all eternity, 
a continual source of indescribable wo. Fourth circum- 
stance, There will be an eternal desire to escape evil, and 
an eternal desire to get to heaven, which it is impossible 
for those to do who once go down to hell. The prison- 
ers in jail anu many other places of confinement may 
look forward to the time of their release with a kind of 
joy. But not so with those shut up in the prison of 
hell. " The smoke of their torment ascendeth up for- 
ever and ever." 
The difference in the conditions of these two men after 



FUTURE REWARD AND PUNISHMENT. 59 

death, is simply this ; the one though poor in this world, 
in the general acceptation, was taken at death by angels 
up to heaven, there to enjoy an eternity of happiness. 
While the rich man who felt that it was not his business 
to trouble himself about serving God here, found him- 
self after death in helJ, there to wail and weep, and 
be tormented in the flames of fire through all eternity. 

We come now to the 4th part of our subject, and let us 
consider the inducements held out to us to escape hell, 
and get to heaven. Jesus said, "It were better to lose 
one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell, where 
the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." Also, 
"Lay up tor yourselves treasures in heaven, where 
neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, nor thieves break 
through and steal." Heaven is a safe place to put our 
treasures in, and we shall be rewarded in eternity, 
according to our works here. 

Reasons why we should wish to escape hell. 

1st. The wicked will be there as our companions. 

2d. The smoke of their lorment will ascend up for- 
ever. 

3d. Annihilation of either body or soal will never 
take place in hell. The meaning of annihilation is, 
reducing to nothing, ceasing to exist. Some believe, or 
say so at least, that when we die, that is the end of us ; 
but that is not the fact. For we shall all live again, at 
the time of the resurrection. "Those who have done 
good shall come forth to the resurrection of life, mn\ 
those who have done evil, to the resurrection of damna- 
tion." Our memory, our conscience, and devils, and 
the lost souls of men, who have been our neighbors 
here, and have been brought down to perdition through 
our influence, will never cease to exist, but will be there, 
as sources of torment and unhappiness to us. 

Now look at the inducements placed before us to lead 



GO FUTURE REWARD AND PUNISHMENT. 

lis to heaven. 1st. There will be nothing there to hurt 
us. The weather will be neither too cold nor too hot, 
but will be comfortable for us. And God shall wipe 
away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more 
death nor separation of friends, nor sorrow, nor crying ; 
for the former things are passed away. 

2d. We shall there have the company of Jesus our 
Saviour, and the holy angels, and all the good Christians 
who have overcome Satan and all his works, and having 
been faithful until death, have received a crown of life. 

3d. We shall there be clothed in garments of white 
and spotless purity. 

4th. There will be no night there. 

5th. There will be no tempting devil there to tempt 
us to sin. There the wicked will be excluded, and 
nothing can enter there that can injure or make afraid. 
Read what is written of heaven's inhabitants, in Rev. 7 : 
9-17. " After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, 
which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, 
and people and tongues, stood before the throne, and be- 
fore the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in 
their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salva- 
tion to our God which sitteth on the throne, and unto 
the Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the 
throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell 
before the throne on their faces, -and worshiped God, 
saying, Amen ; blessing and glory, and wisdom, and 
thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be unto 
our God forever and ever. Amen. And one of the 
elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which 
are arrayed in white robes ? and whence came they 1 
Aud I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to 
me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, 
and have washed their robes, and made them white in 



FUTUKE KEV>"ARD AND PUNISHMENT. 61 

the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the 
throne of God, and serve him day and night in his tem- 
ple ; and lie that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among 
them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any 
more ; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. 
For the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, shall 
feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains 
of waters ; and God shall wipe away all tears from their 
eyes." 

Now as heaven, with all its joys and pleasures, is invit- 
ing us to come in ; and hell with all its terrors, is warning 
us to keep out, let us be reconciled to God. 

Here read what is written in Rev. 22 : 12-18. " And, be- 
hold, I come quickly ; and my reward is with me, to give 
every man as his work shall be. 

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the 
first and the last. Blessed are they that do his command- 
ments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and 
may enter in through the gates into the city. For without 
are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murder- 
ers, and idol at or s, and whosoever loveth and maketh a he. 

I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these 
things in the churches. I am the root and offspring of 
David, and the bright and morning star. 

And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come. And let him 
that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. 
And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life 
freely." 



Thoughts on Temperance. 



" Who hath wo? who hath sorrow ? who hath contentions ? 
who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? 
who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the 
wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it 
giveth his color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright : 
At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an 
adder." Prov. 23 : 29-32. 

I once knew a young man, who was in the habit of 
drinking intoxicating drinks. I spoke to him kindly, and 
I think I warned him of his danger. He looked up 
with a smile and spoke as though I need not fear about 
him. But within a few weeks from that time,, he was 
found dead, and it was supposed, that, while he was in- 
toxicated, he had fallen from a piazza and broken his 
neck. '• Wherefore, let him that thinketh he standeth 
take heed lest he fall." " At the last it biteth like a ser- 
pent, and stingeth like an adder.'" 

In speaking of social drinking, an author says: " In- 
temperance does not come at once, with its burning 
streams to consume the heart of its victim, but slowly 
and gradually it drags itself along, taking one fortress 
after another, until the fashionable, genteel, moderate 
drinker has become the reeling, bloated, degraded 
drunkard," 

There is something in the idea of taking a social glass 
with a friend, or drinking a cup of sparkling wine on 
some public occasion, exceedingly pleasant. The young 
fail to perceive the danger of the practice. They cannot 
see how it is, that a man is led on from moderation, 



THOUGHTS ON TEMPERANCE. 63 

to brutal excess, and hence they use the Trine-cup free'y r 
and without fear of any evil consequences. The idea 
that he shall become a drunkard, does not enter into the- 
raind of the young man when first he sips the poison. 
And thus it has ever been with those who have become 
intemperate. 

Step by step the habit grew upon him ; deeper and 
deeper he descended into the vortex of wretch edness„ 
until the last lamp which shed its light upon his path 
was put out, the last star of hope sank in darkness. 

I am perhaps addressing those who occasionally make- 
use of intoxicating drinks, and who, on social occasions 
deem it well to take the cup of wine, withouc hesitation. 
You do not perceive any signs of danger, and should one 
remonstrate with you x)ersonally, you would consider it 
an insult. "Can I not govern myself?" you would ask, 
with outraged feelings. " Can I not drink when I please,, 
and let it alone when I jjlease?" " Have I no x>ower over- 
my appetite and passions V The same questions others 
have asked, and yet have been hurried into the whirl- 
pool of drunkenness. Others when remonstrated with,, 
have been as indignant as yourself, but have ultimately 
found, that the cup was poison, that death lurked beneath, 
its 6rim, that the deathless worm was coiled up there,, 
that it burned the soul with deathless flame. 

I have read of a man who kept a tiger in his house. 
He had secured the animal when it was quite young, and 
by kindness and gentleness, had apparently subdued its 
ferocious and bloodthirsty disposition. So attached to* 
his pet did he become, that he took the creature to bed 
with him at night, and let it follow him in his travels. 
Friends remonstrated, and urged the nature of the ani- 
mal, and predicted danger. The foolish man laughed at 
their fear, and ridiculed the idea of danger. At length 



64 THOUGHTS ON TEMPERANCE. 

lie went to s'eep at night as usual with the beast by his 
side. Turning in his bed, he drew his hand across one 
of the paws of his favorite. The wound streamed with 
blood. The tiger tasted it. His ferocious nature, which 
had been curbed for years, was aroused, and when the 
morning came, all that remained of his master was a 
bleeding, mangled corpse. 

The man who sports with intemperance in any form, 
who drinks moderately, or immoderately, is tampering 
with the tiger. He will realize the truth of Scripture, 
" At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an 
adder." And farther, the scriptures tell us, " Know ye 
not, that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom 
of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor 
idolators, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards shall 
inherit the kingdom of God." 1 Cor. 6 : 9-10. 

Let us now consider what is intemperance ? According 
to Webster, "Intemperance is 1st, In a general sense, 
want of moderation, or due restraint ; excess in any kind 
of action, or indulgence. 

2d. Habitual indulgence in drinking spirituous liquors, 
with or without intoxication." Business once called me 
into a store, and there I saw a man of my acquaintance. 
I had been told a few days before, that he had had the 
delirium tremens. While I was in the store, I saw him 
ask hurriedly for a glass of liquor. The glass and the 
decanter were set before him. He filled the glass nearly 
full of liquor, and without water or sugar, he poured it 
down his throat, as though he thought his life depended 
on swallowing it in the quickest possible time. That, I 
think was intemperance. 

I have read that "men of genius are often unfortu- 
nately addicted to drinking. There is a melancholy which 
is apt to come like a cloud over the imaginations of such 
characters. To relieve these feelings, many plans have 



THOUGHTS ON TEMPERANCE. 65 

been adopted." I have also read, that Dr. Johnson fled for 
years to wine under his habitual gloom. He found that 
the pangs were removed while its immediate influence 
lasted, but he also found that they returned with double 
force, when that influence passed away. He saw the dan- 
gerous precipice on which he stood, and by a determined 
effort he gave it over. 

Let us consider some of the results of intemperance. 
"Intemperance ruins the physical constitution." In the 
creation of the body, God has displayed infinite wisdom. 
More wonderful than any complicated work of human 
hands, it bears the impress of divinity. It is fearfully 
and wonderfully made, and is a specimen of workmanship, 
unrivaled in the arts. The Maker of man did not form 
him thus fearfully, in order that he might be broken 
by disease, and crushed by vice. He made him upright. 
He stamped the blush of health upon his cheek, and sent 
him forth to look upon the earth beneath his feet, and the 
heavens above his head. 

" You have seen a beautiful machiDe, fulfilling the pui- 
pose of its maker, and working with order, regularity and 
harmony. You have examined it closely, and admired the 
perfection of all its parts. You have complimented the 
skill of the artizan. and deemed his w T ork one of extraor- 
dinary ingenuity. You have also seen that machine disar- 
ranged ; the order and harmony of its movements gone, 
and entirely incapable of performing the work for which 
the maker designed it." " The human body under the in- 
fluence of intemperance, is like that disarranged and 
broken instrument. The purpose of its creation is de- 
feated, and it becomes the seat of numberless diseases, 
aches and pains, sorrows and woes, for which God never 
has intended it. The drunkard presents a fearful speci- 
men of a broken down man. From the head to the feet 
he is covered with disease. He moves along the street, 



€6 THOUGHTS OX TEMPERANCE. 

with downcast eyes, or staggers to and fro, with heavy- 
tread ; his nerves are all unstrung, or braced beyond endu- 
rance ; his head aches and throbs ; his bloated face spoils 
the beauty of a human being ; his knees totter and smite 
against each other ; his livid lips are closed over teeth de- 
cayed ; his swollen tongue prevents his ready utterance ; 
Ids idiotic look betokens speedy death ; his eye glares at 
one time, and is languid and bloodshot at another ; and his 
brain is racked with a thousand fancies, and agonized by a 
thousand fears. Go, search earth's darkest caves, and 
bring up to the blaze of day, the inmates of your prisons and 
dungeons ; your insane asylums and madhouses, and none 
will you find so miserable and degraded, so lost to all that 
makes up a perfect man, as the victim of intemperance. 

Take some case within the limits of your own observa- 
tion ; some friend who tampered with tko terrible destroy- 
er, and has been ruined. You knew him perhaps, when no 
shade of crime had passed oyer his manly countenance ; 
when he walked with his head erect, and his bosom bared 
to the storms of life ; when life flashed from his eye, and 
vigor was in his step ; when the stranger noted his manly 
form, and correct deportment. You have seen that form 
bend, not with age ; you have seen that step falter, not 
from fear, and that once noble form, reeling from the 
drunkard's purgatory, to he besotted and beast-like by the 
wayside. You have seen every thing noble and beautiful 
in this God-made body, utterly spoiled. The divinity in 
man crushed out of him, and the temple of the immortal 
aoul laid in ruins. Nor will the young men whom I address 
avoid this terrible destruction of the human system, if 
they enter the fatal avenues which lead to the drunkard's 
fate. They may suppose that they have power to drink, or 
refrain from drinking. They may boast how strong they 
are, and how easily they can dash the inebriating cup to 
the earth. But their boasts are idle as the wind. The great 




The Victim of Intemperance. 



68 THOUGHTS ON TEMPERANCE. 

army of drunkards, with crippled limbs, limping forms, 
bleeding hearts, and maddened brain, thousands of whom 
die every year, utter their notes of warning. The broken, 
diseased, death-struck forms of prostrate men, as they he 
along the path of life, give fearful admonition. The open- 
ing graves, into which the remains of men are tumbled 
after they have cursed themselves and all around them ; 
graves on which the flowers seem unwilling to bloom, and 
over which the birds appear to sing in sadness ; graves wet 
by no widow's tears, consecrated by no orphan's lament ; 
graves which angels shun, or by which they weep in sorrow, 
as on their mission of mercy, they pass through the city of 
the dead, all sound the alarm, and by the dumb eloquence 
of their speechless harmony, bid the living throng beware 
of the drunkard's hopeless doom. You may perhaps have 
heard of the famous dream or vision of a distinguished 
clergyman, for the publication of which he was beaten in 
the street and imprisoned. The scene was said to be in 
Deacon Giles' Distillery. The dreamer saw the demon- 
workmen at their unhallowed employment, manufacturing 
with great zeal the elixir of death. He heard their fero- 
cious and blasphemous expressions. While he gazed on, 
barrel after barrel of the accursed poison was drawn from 
the cistern, and prepared for sale. The employment of 
one or more of the fiends was to mark and label these 
barrels and hogsheads of rum and gin, which had been put 
up. Quenching a coal of fire in the liquid which he had 
made, the infernal monster went to work. On all the bar- 
rels, in letters which would remain invisible until the first 
glass was drawn, and then burn forth like fire, he wrote, 
"consumption," "palsy," "fever," "plague," "insanity," 
"madness," "redness of eyes," "sorrow of heart." 
"death," "damnation," and the like expressions, which 
when the liquid deaths had been sold, and the buyers drew 



THOUGHTS ON TEMPERANCE. 



69 



from it for the first time, flashed out in the faces of the 
thirsty customers, who stood waiting at the bar. With 
fearful consternation they saw written in words of flame, 
the diseases which they knew were praying upon their sys- 
tems, and fled from the place in terror. 

What that dreamer saw in vision, we behold as an exist- 
ing fact. Though on the barrels in the rum-shops, we do 
not find the words of fire written there by demon hands, 
yet we behold more fearful inscriptions on the living, 
dying countenances of men who walk our streets. Gleam- 
ing forth from fiery eyes ; seen on the wan and haggard 
cheek ; read in the stooping forms and staggering tread ; 
heard in the hollow cough ; felt in the aching Lead, and 
beating heart, proving to us that intemperance 

4 'Is palsy, plague and fever. 
And madness, all combined/' 





THEY ALL DRINK WATER. 

Pinks with white and crimson streaks, 
Oa their soft and dimpled cheeks ; 
Sweet violets whose azure eyes, 
Won their beauty from the skies ; 
Dear daisies touched with silver sheen, 
Shining on hill and valleys green, 
And dandelions crowned with gold, 
Drink only water pure and cold. 
Sparrows at our thresholds fed, 
Kobins with their bosoms red. 
Meadow-larks in fields of green, 
Orioles that light the scene. 
Bluebirds with their coats of blue, 
Blackbirds of the sable-hue, 
And the jolly bobolink. 
From the springs and streamlets drink. 
Mary, whose eyes are soft and blue, 
Sarah, whose cheeks have a crimson hue, 
Jane, whose teeth are white as pearls, 
Susie, whose hair rolls down in curls, 
Katie, whose brow is broad and fair, 
Emma, whose face is free of care, 
And Lizzie, the merchant's daughter, 
Drink only water, water, water ! 

Youth's Temperance Banner 



INDEX. 

l J age, 

Stand Fast, - - - - - 5 

Firmness. ----- 14. 

A Prize Fighter turned Preacher. 16 

The Bib^e. ----- 19 

Be Gentle to Your Wife. - - - 19 

Invitation. ----- 21 

A Psalm of Life. 27 

Halting - - - - 29 

Slothfulness. - - - 36 

Prayer For Zion. - 38 

Christian Zeal. - - 41 

A Little Word. - 51 

The Harvest Past. 52 

Future Reward and Punishment. - 57 

Thoughts on Temperance. 62 

They all Drink Water. - - - 70 



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